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Wynne Government Policies Causing Chill in Business Investment: Fedeli

January 13, 2017

QUEEN’S PARK – The Ministry of Finance’s latest economic accounts indicated a significant decline in business investment in the province, and signals that Wynne government policies are having a negative impact on our economic prospects, Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli said today.

Ontario’s Economic Accounts for the third quarter of 2016 noted that business investment in the province declined by 0.8 percent, including a drop of nearly six percent in investments in machinery and equipment.

“This is especially concerning given the red tape and skyrocketing hydro rates this government has implemented in Ontario,” said Fedeli. “Under this Government we’ve seen over 350,000 good paying manufacturing jobs leave the province.”

A document obtained from the Ministry of Finance under Freedom of Information also indicated “there are fewer jobs today relative to the population than before the recession. In other words, employment growth has not kept up with the growth of the working age population.”

“The Wynne government has transformed Ontario from an attractive place to invest to one of the highest-cost jurisdictions in North America to do business. Premier Wynne’s flawed and costly cap-and-trade scheme will only make matters worse and place an even greater chill on business investment.”

“Clearly this government is not creating the right environment for job creation and investment in Ontario, and a new direction is needed to rectify this. The Wynne government has no plan to address the fiscal and economic mess they’ve created in Ontario,” Fedeli concluded.